For me the main benefit of status with a chain is that I get treated moderately well at hotels that I am staying at for the first time, and may never return to, or not for many years.

I have stayed at over 100 Hiltons but most of them only once. For me travel is about going to new places, not returning to the same place over and over (except for family/business reasons etc). So I'm never going to become a repeat guest at any hotel.

Obviously not every place I go has a Hilton or a convenient Hilton, but out of the chains, Hilton Diamond was the easiest for me to maintain pre-COVID. I don't expect too much, but usually get a better room (occasionally suite) and sometimes extra gifts, than I would if I had no status.

With only 15 stays needed this year Hilton is probably the easiest status to maintain during COVID too, particularly because I am already Diamond and have 0 stays so far. If I wanted to go for another chain I would have to start off statusless or figure out a status match, but this would lead to me losing Hilton status and also being unable to maintain the other chain's status after the second year.